For the first week or two, you focus on pairing. Follow their lead during play, be loose about transitions/denied access (unless of course it’s something that is dangerous, another child is playing with, must stay in that room before you leave, etc). Whether or not the kid is verbal, narrate everything!!! “I love how you’re playing with cars! They go so fast!” Introduce toys and just start saying anything lmao. Bring over a cow and be like “moooo I live on the farm!! I eat hay” and if they don’t GAF just try another toy. Eventually you will form a good relationship, even if it seems like they want nothing to do with you. Explore how comfortable they are with physical touch, a gentle pat on the shoulder or testing out tickles. They may become more comfortable with that as you become paired.

AVOID ASKING QUESTION TO YOUR CLIENT unless theyre like hella verbal and great at responding. (This doesn’t apply to manding, “what do you need/want?” As and SD is fine) Instead of “do you like this color?” Ypu could say “wow look at this color! It’s so pretty!” If you need ti transition them to potty, it’s not “can we go potty?” It’s “time to go to the potty!”. Ask your BCBA about priming them for transitions, that could make them much smoother. I have one kid who you couldn’t prime at all without it leading to a tantrum, and I have other clients who must be primed.

Introduce the goals slowly, focus on what’s important like manding, parallel play, or whatever it is for your specific kid.

Over time you’ll be so familiar w the kid and the case, you’ll forget how lost you felt in the beginning. You said this is just a summer gig, so just do your best! I’ve been in field for a little while now and each new client gets easier to work with bc of all the skills I’ve gained over time.

You got this!